Temporary Slavery Commission
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The Temporary Slavery Commission (TSC) was a permanent committee of the League of Nations, inaugurated in 1924. It was the first committee of the League of Nations to adress the issue of slavery and slave trade, and followed on the Brussels Anti-Slavery Conference 1889–90.
The TSC conducted a global investigation concerning slavery, slave trade and force labor, and recommended solutions to address the issue. Its work lay the ground for the 1926 Slavery Convention.
History[edit]
Background and foundation[edit]
The League of Nations conducted an informal investigation about the excistence of slavery and slave trade in 1922-1923, gathering information from both governments as well as NGO's such as the Anti-Slavery Society and the Bureau international pour la défense des indigènes (International Bureau for the Defense of the Native Races, BIDI).[1] The result of the report demonstracted the situation with chattel slavery in the Arabian Peninsula, Sudan and Tanganyika, as well as the illegal trafficking and force labor in the French colonies, South Africa, Portuguese Mozambique and Latin America.
However, governments and colonial authorites refused to accept information from private NGO's as official information from the League. In December 1923, the League requested information from governments about the issue. When all governments answered with the reply that slavery did not excist within their territories, or had already been abolished, the League saw the need to establish a committee to conduct a formal investigation.[2]
The Temporary Slavery Commission (TSC) was founded by the League in 1924, and held its first meeting in the Summer of 1924. It was composed by eight expert members.[3]
Activity[edit]
The TSC was to conduct a formal international investigation of all slavery and slave trade globally, and act for its total abolition. One of the issues was to create a formal definition of slavery.[4] At this point in time, chattel slavery was still legal in the Arabian Peninsula, such as in Saudi Arabia, in Yemen and in Oman, which was provided with slaves via foremost the Red Sea slave trade.
The TSC filed their report to the League on 25 July 1925, after which it was disbanded. The TSC recommended that all legal chattel slavery and slave trade should be declared illegal; that slave trade by sea should be defined as piracy; that escaped slaves should be entitled to protection; that slave trade and slave raids schould be criminalized, and that force labor should be prohibited.[5]
Aftermath and legacy[edit]
The investigation of the TSC lay the foundation of the 1926 Slavery Convention.[6]
On 5 September 1929, the Sixth Commission of the League Assembly raised the need to evaluate the enforcement of the 1926 Slavery Convention, and the Committee of Experts on Slavery (CES) was created,[7] which in turn founded the first permanent slavery committee, the Advisory Committee of Experts on Slavery (ACE).[8]
References[edit]
- ^ Miers, S. (2003). Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. USA: AltaMira Press. 100-121
- ^ Miers, S. (2003). Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. USA: AltaMira Press. 100-121
- ^ Miers, S. (2003). Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. USA: AltaMira Press. 100-121
- ^ Miers, S. (2003). Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. USA: AltaMira Press. 100-121
- ^ Miers, S. (2003). Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. USA: AltaMira Press. 100-121
- ^ Miers, S. (2003). Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. USA: AltaMira Press. 100-121
- ^ Miers, S. (2003). Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. USA: AltaMira Press. 197-215
- ^ Miers, S. (2003). Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem. Storbritannien: AltaMira Press. p. 216